Wednesday, April 19, 2006

I"m going to China this summer to learn about that great nation and get in touch with my Chinese roots, and so I thought it would be good to blog about something Chinese.

Anyway, I stumbled across a clip of a Chinese singing contest. Oh my goodness, someone please tell me that this is a skit from a Chinese comedy show, and that she's supposed to be bad... Or does this reflect the state of Chinese R&B music? I wonder if this is from a show similar to Mengniu Sour Yogurt Super Girl Contest, the Chinese equivalent of American Idol (or Pop Idol, as the show originally was called in the U.K)! Who is this woman, and what in the world is she catwailing? She makes William Hung seem like a musical genius! And why are the people applauding for her? Are they humoring her, or do they seriously think she is good?

By the way, the Chinese must be laughing at how bad American singers are when they try to sing traditional Chinese music.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

You got to see these videos to believe this. This person is Razor Ramon Hard Gay, or "Hard Gay" for short. Think of a Japanese version of the leather guy in the Village People, and his job is to help the average person on the street, such as helping old ladies cross the street, protecting young ladies from pick-up artists, or teaching kids to eat their vegetables. And his secret weapon is his crotch shake. Can you believe the stuff that goes on in Japanese prime time? Hard Gay is the alter ego of the comedian Sumitani Masaki and has become quite popular in Japan.

Here's some clips of him. In this one, he helps a struggling ramen shop by trying to attract customers. Here, he helps people in the streets. In another one, he accuses Yahoo Japan of taking his trademark cry, "whooo!!!"

And you can see him in his music video doing what else...a Japanese cover of "YMCA"! (actually his cover of Young Man, a 1970s Japanese cover of YMCA)

About Me

"Kakure gaijin" is Japanese for "Hidden foreigner." I'm back in Hawaii, having returned home after almost fifteen years on the mainland. Everywhere I go, people ask where I'm from. I look local,but have been away so long I feel like a tourist. When I'm in Japan, I look Japanese, but speak semi-fluent Japanese with an accent. And some people on the continental U.S. ("da mainland") compliment me on my English and ask what country I'm from. Thus the title of "hidden foreigner". But I feel most at home in Hawaii!